Crib



June 19, 1956 w. G. PENDLETON 2,750,603

CRIB

Filed Nov. 8, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 29 g -10 I FIG. 8

I I I I 21 14 im INVENTOR w. o. PENDLETON ATTORNEY United States Patent CRIB William G. Pendleton, Shelby, N. c., assignor to Pendletons, a partnership Application May 8, 1952, Serial No. 286,788

2 Claims. (Cl. -99) This invention relates to furniture used in the home and more particularly to a crib or bed for a small or young child.

Specifically, the invention relates to a kit of necessary parts either painted or unpainted and from which a crib can be easily and quickly erected, and which kit can be contained in a compact relatively small package, can be easily shipped or transported, and the parts can be readily painted before or after they are assembled.

C0sts have increased to such an extent that cribs or baby beds are more expensive than many of the beds used by adults and consequently such baby beds have become luxury items beyond the reach of the average American family, accordingly a bed for a small child has become an important problem.

It is an object of the invention to provide the painted or unpainted facilities or parts from which a childs crib or bed can be easily erected by an unskilled person as well as a relatively small container or carton in which such parts can be handled in volume, shipped, or stored.

Another object of the invention is to provide the posts from which a'childs crib or bed can be produced and which posts include minimum fasteners of hardware or other fasteners as well as a crib in, a condition to be finished by and in a manner satisfactory to the customer.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a package containing the parts from which a crib in accordance with the present invention may be erected;

Fig. 2, an exploded view of the crib of the present invention;

Fig. 3, a perspective of the crib after the parts have been assembled but with parts of an end and side removed;

Figs. 4 and 5, detail sections on the lines 4-4 and 55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6, a top plan view of the assembled crib;

Fig. 7, a detail of the spring or mattress support in compact or coiled condition;

Fig. 8, a detail illustrating one of the wire clips or connecting members; and

Fig. 9, a modified bottom design.

Briefly stated the invention comprises a package or kit including a casing or container of relatively small size and having therein the necessary parts from which a childs crib or bed can be erected, such childs crib or bed having four corner posts preferably with rollers, two sides and two ends, a cable bottom and relatively few fastening elements.

The sides and ends each are made of top and bottom rails with spindles therebetween each having integral dowels or reduced ends which fit into corresponding openings in the rails.

The bottom of the crib has a pair of ends with projecting dowels which fit into openings in the two lower side rails. Between the ends of the bottom is disposed a cable having parallel stretches, one end of said cable 2,750,603 Patented June 19, 1956 being anchored near an end of one of the bottom rails, and the opposite end of the cable being anchored near the opposite end of the other bottom rail. The stretches of.the cable are engaged by a series of wire clips which connect the stretches transversely and also are anchored in the eye bolts 30 in the bottom rails of the sides.

The top and bottom rails between the corner posts are fastened to the posts by screws extending through the posts into the rails.

With continued reference to the drawing, the crib of the present invention is contained knocked down in a relatively small package or container 10, as shown in Fig. 1 and the parts of the crib prior to assembly are illustrated in Fig. 2. In this figure there are four side rails 11; four end rails 12; thirty-two spindles 13; and four corner posts 14, which when assembled form the complete crib except for the bottom, and the rollers and other hardware. I

The side rails 11 and the end rails 12 are provided with spaced openings 15 for the reception of reduced end portions or dowel ends 16 of the spindles 13. If desired the side and end rails which are to be used uppermost the corner posts may be connected at their ends.

In assemblying, one of the rails 11 is placed on a supporting surface with the spindle receiving openings up ward. The spindles are then applied, and a second rail is placed on the opposite end of the spindles. Tapping lightly on the uppermost rail serves to tighten the parts. After one side is assembled, the other side and the two ends are assembled in like manner.

Next, the bottom of the crib is applied to the sides. The bottom of the crib is formed of two end members 29 and a single strand of wire or cable 21 which has one end anchored by a staple or other fastener 22 to one of the 'end members and its opposite end fastened at the remote end of the opposite end member in' a similar manner.

Each bottom member 20 is provided with eleven equally spaced openings 23, so that in producing the bottom the wire is fastened by the anchor 22 and is extended through an opening 23, then through a similar opening 23 in the opposite bottom member, then along the back of the bottom member to the next opening 23, then through such'opening and through a similar opening inthe opposite bottom member 20, and so on until the wire is completely threaded back and forth between the two bottom members. A bottom produced in this manner may be rolled upon itself for shipment as shown in Fig. 7. I

Each bottom member 20 has a pair of spaced integral dowels or reduced portions 24 which are spaced to correspond and be received in openings 25 in the rails 11. Accordingly the sides and bottom are assembled and stood on end before the end panels are added.

Thereafter the corner posts are attached first to the end rails which have square reduced ends or dowels 26 which fit into corresponding openings in the post. A wood screw 27 is inserted through a preformed hole in the post so that the screw engages the dowel 26 along its axis.

The ends thus completed are then attached to the sides and held to the sides by Wood screws 28 inserted through preformed openings in the posts. Such screws are located longitudinally of the side rails.

After the sides and bottom have been assembled and the ends applied thereto and fastened together by means of the appropriate screws, the stretches of the cable 21 have applied thereto a series of clips 29, as shown either in Figs. 3 or 9. Three of such clips are applied to the second strip of the wire 21 and engaged in eye-screws 30 attached to the bottom rails of the side members. After three of such clips are applied to each side of the crib,

four clips are applied between the second cable strand and the "fourth strand so as to lie beneath the third, and these four clips are spaced corresponding to the first three clips but offset relatively thereto. When these four clips have been applied to each side as shown in Fig. 9 three additional clips are applied to each side between the fourth and fifth strands of the bottom cable in alignment with the first three clips. When this is done, four additional clips are applied offset from the immediately preceding clips but in alignment with the last clips save one. Thus, the bottom of Fig. 9 is completed.

The bottom of Fig. 3 may have a central section slightly .ditferent, a long clip 31 replacing certain of the smaller clips as shown.

In the assembly of the crib, the spindles 13 may have glue applied to the dowels on their extremities so that the parts will be held together by such glue and into a rigid structure and in a like manner attachment to the corner posts also may be made with glue. A thoroughly glued and hardware-attached assembly will afford a substantial structure although the use of glue or other adhesive is optional.

It will be understood from the foregoing that by the present invention there isprovided a relatively small com- .pact kit in a suitable container or carton which may be sold at a very modest price unpainted or painted and can ,be readily shipped at low cost or can be stored in this compact form in apartments or other places where storage is at a premium. Also the parts can be readily assembled without the exercise of any particular skill. It can be carried in an automobile on a visit to relatives, and the device can be erected and used as a crib wherever the same is needed.

It .Will be obvious to those skilled in the .art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and the scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A crib construction comprising a pair of ends, each end including a corner post at each side, top and bottom rails anda plurality of spindles, a pair of sides, each side including a top and bottom rail and a plurality of spindles, said rails being secured to the adjacent corner posts of the ends, a mattress support including an end member adjacent each end of the crib and positively secured to the lower rail of each side, each end member of said mattress support being provided with apair of dowels at each of its ends and the bottom rail of each side being provided withsockets for receiving the dowels, a cable extending through the mattress supporting end member at one end of 4 the crib and through the mattress supporting end member atthe other end of the crib'and extendingback and forth in generally parallel runs and passing through the end members at the end of each run, the ends of said cable being secured to the mattress supporting end members, a plurality of links interconnecting certain of said runs of cable providing angular relation between portions of said runs, said links servingto tension the cable to provide a relatively non-sagging mattress support and means for securing said parts together whereby the entire structure may be readily assembled and disassembled into a package of substantially the length of the side members and of breadth dimensions substantially less than any other dimensions of the finished crib, said mattress support being adapted to be coiled into a small space by wrapping the cable runs around the mattress supporting end members.

2. A mattress support comprising side rails, end members extending between the side rails and lying in substantially the plane .of such side rails, positive interengaging means between the end members and the siderails to prevent relative twisting of the frame formed by said side rails and end members, said positive interengaging means being formed by each end member of said mattress support being provided with a pair of dowels at each of its ends and each side rail being provided with sockets for receiving the dowels, a cable passing through the end members at a plurality ofspaced points providingsubstantially parallelruns in the plane of said frame and clips interconnecting certain of said runs at spaced pointsproviding angular portions in the runs which serve to tension the, runs and provide additional mattress supporting areas and means for securing at least some of the runs vat spaced points .to said side rails, said structure being assemblable and disassemblable without tools.

References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS 32,683 Converse July 2, 1861 194,722 Pickett Aug. 28, 1877 286,686 Comins Oct. 16, 1883 905,243 Smith Dec. 1,1908

1,445,311 Hammer Feb. 13, 1923 1,692,080 De Hass Nov.,20, 1928 1,823,836 Matthews Sept. 15, 1931 1,845,791 Gray Feb. 16, 1932 1,963,347 Boothe June 19,1934 2,032,141 May Feb. 25, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,346 Great Britain 1898 1.2.5 seamen: 1, 29 256,457 Switzerland Mar. 1, 11949 

